SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Eugene Gerden July 31, 2014 — MOSCOW — The production of pacific salmon in Russia is booming this year, according to the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo).
According to data of Rosrybolovstvo, to date, the volume of salmon catch in domestic territorial waters increased by 20.2%, compared to 2012 (even-numbered year). In case of Far East basin, the volume of production amounted to 94,000 tonnes, which is by 19,000 tonnes more, compared to the same period of 2012.
At the same time in case of Kamchatka, the volume of catch amounted to 61,000 tonnes, which is by 20,000 tonnes more than in 2012, while in the Khabarovsk Territory it reached 22,000 tonnes, which is by 7,000 tonnes more than in 2012.
Due to good results, it is planned that recommended catch of salmon in the Far East Basin this year, which is set at the level of 351,000 tonnes may be significantly increased. In 2012, the volume of catch of Pacific salmon in Russian territorial waters amounted to 445,000 tonnes, which is, however, significantly lower record figures of 2009, when the overal catch amounted to 551,000 tonnes.
In the meantime, despite the ever growing volumes of salmon catch, its prices in the Russian market are also growing (and have already reached USD$7 per 1 kg), which spark critics from customers and analysts. One of the reasons of this is cheap exports to China, which in recent years have significantly increased, due to strenghtening of economic cooperation between the two countries.
The vast majority of Russian salmon harvest is pink salmon.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.